Dragon Ball Kai First Impression (ドラゴンボールKAI 改)

A HD remaster of Dragon Ball Z with a much more compact representation is what this series is being touted as. Despite being a fan of the manga, I cannot bear to watch the original series due to its legendary slowness. Will they get it right this time?

The first episode began with a quick recap on Son Goku's background, including how the Saiyans fought against Freeza and failed miserably.



I won't bother recapping the whole episode here. In summary, the episode covers Raditz (Goku's brother) arrival and his first confrontation with Piccolo and Goku & co.

Impression:

As mentioned at the beginning, I didn't watch the original series except for an episode here and there, so its difficult to compare how much material have been cut.  So far, the pacing is about right, the real test is later on, when the battle begins. How much would they be able to cut and make the battle exciting, especially since they are not creating new scenes?

The graphics while possibly much better than the original release, they are still drawn 2 decades ago. Since the animation these days has progressed so much, it can be jarring to watch this after Full Metal Alchemist, or Sengoku Basara, for example.While a remake would have been much more exciting, the popularity of the series would pretty much ensure a significant enough number of people would still watch this remastered and shortened Dragon Ball, I suppose. 

On top of that a second Nintendo DS Dragon Ball RPG, Dragon Ball Kai: Saiyajin Raishuu (ドラゴンボール改 サイヤ人来襲) will be released this month, and I think the story line covered would be about the same as the anime. So the promotion of the DS game is most likely the main motivation for Dragon Ball Kai, not the 20th anniversary celebration.

Opening theme song: Dragon Soul by Tanimoto Takayoshi (谷本 貴義)

Ending theme song: Yeah! Break! Care! Break!（ヤブレカブレ）by Tanimoto Takayoshi (谷本 貴義)
Official site: ドラゴンボール改